Put scratching posts (both vertical and flat) near the areas where they are doing this. Redirect when you see them doing it in the wrong spots, and you can get sprays to make certain areas more/less attractive for scratching. They also might want more play time. Scratching is normal cat behaviour but there are ways to give them healthy ways to practice it.
this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2025
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If you're buying one with rope, buy one winded vertical and one with horizontal winding. Mine hates the horizontal ones, but then absolutely loves vertical windings.
Because we love em!
Scratching in the "wrong" places tends to be either from frustration, or a lack of stimulation/appropriate places to scratch.
You probably already have some scratching toys/mats/spots, but try experimenting with different orientations; attached to a wall, 45 degree angles, those wave pattern ones, not just straight flat on the ground.
Also, try different materials. Some cats love that rope, others want cardboard, and some are very picky or want both.
If your cat is overweight and leaving streaks or not drinking enough, you should talk to a vet, ideally making an appointment with a nutritional specialist. It may be they are allergic to something in their food, causing intestinal upset. If that's difficult, you can also simply try giving pouches of small gastrointestinal wet food and seeing if that helps.
It may also be because they are too fat to clean themselves properly, and they butt-scoot to clean it that way? You can get special diet food that fills them but doesn't have as many calories.
It only happens when I have people over. She hides behind the couch and refuses to come out so she gets constipated. I’m actually going to start putting a water bowl back there if we’re going to have people over.
At least she’s not shitting back there haha.
we have a sacrificial couch and scratching post and she seems ok with that
she used to scratch wallpaper too... we got rid of the wallpaper
she is the cutest thing in the universe so it's worth it
In the cat's defense, the furniture appears to be made of foam.
Get a scratching post, or a sacrificial chair maybe?
It appears to be made of foam because she has spent 7 years wearing it down.
I can hear the pain in your voice through the comment lol. Gotta love the fur balls so much, but man it comes at a cost sometimes.
beavers... you have a beaver.
give it a tree trunk ffs.
wow
Teach them not to do that, for starters.
I have sprayed her with water, ran her off, put up scratching posts right in front of it, only to look over and see her scratching around it.
You have to teach them what No means. Just like any other animal. And when they're young, not when they're seven years old.
You can do it when they're seven years old. You just have to be persistent with it. I've taught older cats to come when I whistle and to pay attention when they're doing wrong stuff.
I have to wonder if maybe she's not lonely. Maybe a kitten/cat buddie would help her release some of her pent-up furniture/door frame aggression.
When our new kitten decided her favourite scratching post was the doorframe outside the bathroom, we went ahead and bought one of those hanging scratching mats to nail over it.
Saved the doorframe, and have a happy kitten.
Based on what the internet told me about cats, this life often chooses you.
What others have said. With regards to diet and drinking - look into raw feeding.
Has there been any conclusive study that shows raw feeding actually helps anything- and more importantly, helps enough to overcome the very real risks involved?
I've been raw feeding for over decade. The health of my cats massively improved. The ones that have been raw fed right from the get go are the healthiest I've ever been owned by. One of my cats, the vet said was the "most beautiful specimen he's ever seen" (yes he used that terminology lol and all my cats are just mutty rescues) and said he was incredibly healthy.
I've gotten more food poisoning from supermarket food than I ever have off raw cat food, which is to say never in that time. We use a high quality local business that specialises solely in raw feeding.
With regards to research, just bear in mind that the pet food industry is a multi-billion dollar industry with vested interests in maintaining the status quo. There's also plenty of evidence to show that, as an industry, there's a lot of dodgy stuff going on and that its causing huge health issues for pets, including deaths. I believe there's been several documentaries on it but I haven't looked this info up in many years.
I'll edit this with some studies once I'm on my PC and not my phone because it's annoying to do with a phone keyboard.
Be careful with raw feeding as there have been recent cases of cats dying (avian flu was in the raw food).